Look down!

I've learned a lot from my kids, and one of those things is to LOOK DOWN. I don't mean "watch your step," I mean look at the dirt under your feet close up and brush away some of the crap to see what's under there. Chances are it is something amazing. Of course I knew this at some point but I had unlearned it.

Here is something amazing, and it's called a bird's nest fungus (Cyathus sp.). These are tiny things, about a centimeter across, and the little "eggs," called peridioles, contain the spores. They came out on the front-yard mulch after all the recent rain. Each is perfect in its own way, and each could not care less about financial meltdowns or health care reform or the Pope's misdeeds. I do, but it's nice to know the fungi carry on regardless.